Estate Taxes

It comes as no surprise to anyone that action or inaction by Congress in 2012 will drastically alter the estate tax landscape. The estate tax exemption (i.e., amount of assets not subject to estate tax at your death) will go from $5 million to $1 million in 2013 if Congress does not act. Planning for this uncertainty can be challenging. The best plan for many clients is to implement a “disclaimer” plan in which the surviving spouse gets to decide how much to “disclaim” in setting up estate tax avoidance trust.